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Useful Books about Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern History
There are countless books about history. They all seem to give clear pictures about what happened in the past, but they often contradict each other. The contradictions go far beyond simple questions of fact. Every history is also a theological statement because every historian brings his own world view to the evidence. Not all historians are very honest about that fact, but it is true. There is no objective history outside of the biblical record. Everyone has something to teach about reality whether they realize it or not. Everyone allows his or her own presuppositions to determine the facts that are considered important, the way that the evidence is arranged, and the conclusions that are drawn from those facts. This reality can be seen rather clearly in the ways that different authors use historical and cultural evidence from the Near East to interpret the Biblical text. This section of the Resource Center will look at how evidence is used from the history of the Near East, from archaeology, and from the literature of the Near East. Follow the links on the page for bibliographies of useful books about Ancient Near Eastern History, Biblical Archaeology, and the Literature of the Ancient Near East. If you want to learn new things about the Bible that commentaries don't discuss, by far the best way to do so is to read carefully translations of texts from ancient Near East. Quite often, possible linkages with the biblical account will jump out at you. Of course, if you really want to dig into the subject at a professional level, you really have to learn the original languages for yourself. That is important both because translations are often somewhat uncertain and because every translation is also an interpretation. Learning the languages may not be as hard as you think. If you already know biblical Hebrew, it would take you very little time to learn Ugaritic which is the Canaanite language of the ancient city of Ugarit. Both Hebrew and Ugaritic are simply dialects of West Semitic. So if you know Hebrew, you already know most of the vocabulary and grammar of Ugaritic as well. Ugaritic is of huge importance for understanding things like Baal worship in the Old Testament. This section will not attempt to address church history or modern history at this time. If the Lord provides the resources to continue this work, we will branch out into church history in the future. I plan to add a Pastor as Historian Project and a Pastor as Theologian Project to the web page as time and financial resources permit. Advanced studies in those disciplines may also be added in the future.
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Copyright © 2009 Dr. Rodger Dalman
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